There is a constant demand for smaller electronic components and/or modules, particularly in the aircraft or aerospace fields, where size and weight are of critical importance. Microelectronics offers a great reduction in size and weight of electronic components where the components are mounted on boards including integrated circuitry.
One of the first steps in size and cost reduction was the modular concept where electronic plug-in modules were developed to meet various system requirements. Standard hardware designs were provided to have a plurality of modules which plug in a chassis to form an assembly. Normally, these plug-in modules slide in grooves in the chassis and may engage a mating female connector. These modules are closely assembled and dissipate considerable heat which, if not removed, greatly affects component reliability.
This problem of dissipating heat has been approached by various attempts to cool the electronic assemblies, ranging from some type of cooling fan assembly to cooling coils.
One approach for improving the cooling arrangement for an electronic plug-in module assembly is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,315,300 to Parmerlee et al, dated Feb. 9, 1982. This patent shows an arrangement where a plurality of modules are supported in grooves defined by a pair of parallel sides of a chassis. Each parallel side is provided with fluid passageways for carrying a cooling liquid for removing heat transferred from a heat sink on each module to the sides of the grooves. A plurality of apertures are provided in each side between adjacent grooves and carry fins through which cool air is blown to cool each side of each plug-in module. Such arrangements may be adequate for some electronic components, but they simply are insufficient for advanced components, such as "supercomputers", radar or other systems where 200-500 watts of heat are anticipated to be generated by each module. Such prior arrangements where the chassis and/or sides of the grooves are fabricated of solid material, such as aluminum, simply cannot dissipate heat from such advanced components.
This invention is directed to solving this problem of cooling electronic components on an electronic board by providing cooling ribs forming grooves on the chassis, with the ribs being fabricated of a stack of impingement orifice plates which provide for extremely compact high intensity cooling.